Text Size

Composer, lyricist and producer Neil Berg has produced hundreds of concerts across the world. At a Talks at GS session at Goldman Sachs in New York, Berg discusses his decades-long career and creative process, as well as the business of Broadway.

On the creative life: “The only way you choose [a life in musical theater] is when there is no choice. It is only this. There are going to be ups and downs. So how do you deal with it? To me it’s not performing or actually doing the show – it’s the whole journey. Once you say you are an artist, it’s everything that goes with it.”

On the importance of cohesion behind a production: “[When you’re producing a Broadway show], you’re talking about potentially an eight- to 12-year marriage. So the chemistry has to be right when you start working. You have to put your ego aside. You could write the best song in the world, but it’s got to match what’s happening [in the story].”